The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Oregano Oil
Posted by Kaite (Windows, Ontario, Canada) on 11/09/2010
★★★★★
I couldn't imagine going through any sort of congestion, runny nose or cough without this stuff. It brings immediate clarity to my sinus congestion as well, it actually breaks up the mucus build up in my lungs. Just recently I was diagnosed with bronchitis and was prescribed penicillin.
I'm not crazy about this particular antibiotic because it just wipes out all of my body's good bacteria, not to mention pills are hard on your liver. I told the pharmacist to put a hold on the penicillin and I will kill the mucus with the oregano oil. It worked, no need for the penicillin, within a week, my lungs had cleared up and I was my old self again. One thing that I also admired was the taste it left in my system; a lot better than tasting bile when you cough!
Garlic
Posted by Neukoln (Edinburgh, Scotland, Uk) on 10/10/2010
I absolutely swear by taking raw garlic for knocking a cold on the head. Garlic takes 1.5 to 2 hours for its effects to be felt. So, when you first start taking it for your cold you need to take it every 2 hours, for about 4 doses... Then there is enough in your body to have an effect on your cold symptoms.
I take it this way: get a large clove of raw garlic or two small ones, chop it up very fine, put it on a spoon and swill it down with a cup of water. When my symptoms are really bad (i.e. At the start) I sometimes take two large cloves at a time. Once your symptoms dip down you'll get a feel for how often to take it thereafter. They'll come back if you haven't taken enough, for long enough. I promise you that it works. I thought I was dying last night cos I felt so bad, but I got up every two hours (I couldn't sleep anyway) and had a finely chopped clove of raw garlic with a cup of water. By the morning my symptoms were OK, not gone but a lot better. I took another clove 4 times through the day, and I feel well enough to go to work tomorrow. Amazing stuff!
Hydrogen Peroxide in the Ears
Posted by Susan (Springfield, Missouri) on 03/31/2008
★☆☆☆☆WARNING!
I tried using the Hydrogen Peroxide in my ears for my Cold. As I was waiting for it to bubble holding my head sideways - the room started spinning. I couldn't wait the 5 minutes suggested so I just drained it and tried the other ear. Again the spinning started so I endured as long as I could. I ended up getting very dizzy and queasy and lost my dinner. It's now the next day and I'm still feeling horrible. Not sure why it affected me like this - is it my cold or the procedure??
Turmeric
Posted by Shireen (Khartoum, Sudan) on 12/13/2007
★★★★★
I am a true believer that every illness has a cure in nature without being tampered with, but I have never heard of turmeric to cure coughs and sinuses.Since I found your website by sheer coincidence, while searching for a natural remedy for my wheezing cough and river-running nose, I thought I'd give turmeric a try( 1 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp honey with 1 cup of warm milk)VIOLA! I could breathe again. Thank You So Much EC, you're a life saver.
Oregano Oil
Posted by Melissa (San Diego, CA) on 09/21/2007
★★★★★
I was suffering from a very bad cold/flu, specifically horrible sinus pressure and chest tightness and coughing, and clogged ears. I love ACV, Cayenne pepper, and hydrogen peroxide for many things, but none of these provided any releif for this. I also tried Grapefruit Seed Extract, sea salt, and borax to try to kill the virus. The last thing I tried was Oregano Oil. I used one drop sublingually and put a few more drops in water and felt immediate relief from the cough/chest tightness and sinus pressure as I was able to expectorate all the mucous. I think all the remedies listed for colds, sore throats, coughts etc. have merit but apparently different people require different remedies. So keep trying until you find the one that works for you. I was starting to get discouraged that I couldn't find any relief from natural remedies and figured I would have to succumb to cough syrup and sudafed. I'm glad I tried one last thing.
Vinegar Bath
Posted by Toma (Chicago, IL) on 06/26/2007
★★★★★
I had a cold for a month, tried everything - nothing helped, so I decided to take baths with a cup of white vinegar after an hour running, in 2 days all the symptoms of cold are gone.
Turmeric
Posted by Anj (UK) on 10/06/2006
★★★★★
Mum always used this when the cough/cold would not go away. Mix 1/2 teaspoon of salt with 1 teaspoon of turmeric and couple of drops of water to make this into paste. Wrap cotton wool around your finger or toothbrush and put the paste on the cottonwool and try and paint the inside of your throat as deep down the throat as possible.
Mouthwash
Posted by Tony (Miami, FL) on 02/15/2006
★★★★★
The next time that you feel as if you are coming down with a cold, gargle Scope or Listerine, diluted with a little water, for one minute when you wake up in the morning. It can prevent you from even coming down with the cold, and will entirely prevent you from having a soar throat if you do catch the cold. These mouthwashes will kill all of the viruses in your throat, before they can cause any havoc.
Gargling With H2O2
Posted by Donna (Aspen, CO)
★★★★★
I gargled with a capful of hydrogen peroxide mixed into 1/4 cup of water and also swished it around my mouth and the next morning my cold was gone.
Lugol's Iodine
Posted by Sharon (Boston, MA)
★★★★★
I am exposed to a lot of viruses (around a lot of children). Twice this year I have clobbered the flu before it started by putting one drop of Lugol's iodine into a glass of water the second I start to feel weird. I have read that it is supposed to be 3 drops, but 1 seems to do the trick for me. I feel better almost instantly.
Black Elderberry Tea
Posted by mr black (Ontario) on 07/16/2023
★★★★★
Make a tea with black elderberries to help with colds, about 2 tablespoons of berries, 1/2 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp cinnamon to 2 cups water combine everything bring to boil reduce to low simmer for about 10 minutes. I heard you need to cook the berries well because it contains some harmful compounds which are neutralized by boiling.
Bay Leaf, Clove, and Ginger Tea
Posted by Brent (Ontario) on 05/02/2023
★★★★★
Crush some bay leafs about a small handful, add some cloves fresh or ground powder about a teaspoon, and fresh ginger about an inch to some boiling water, boil for a few minutes on medium then simmer on low for awhile 15 minutes or so. Drink this to relieve chest congestion and open sinuses.
Black Elderberry Syrup
Posted by Joanne (Chicago) on 03/06/2020
★★★★★
Black Elderberry Syrup Found this stuff in the drugstore and didn't have much hope. It contains no drugs or alcohol, just elderberry concentrate and a bit of agave. It is VERY sweet so it is more palatable if you dissolve a couple spoonfuls in a glass of water. But crikey! The stuff actually works. Take it a few times a day and you will be perking up in no time. I prefer it to the OTC stuff that simply suppresses symptoms. I think if you go that route you end up slowing down the healing process.
Black Elderberry Syrup
Posted by Cindy (California Dessert) on 01/25/2020
★★★★★
Try elderberry capsules or powder to avoid the cold that leads to the sinus infections. As a teacher I usually get many head colds. Two years running I have only had 1! I seem to still get that darn croup in spite of the elderberry. It's not tasty swallowed with water out of the nyquil med cups that aren't in use anymore-unless I add bilberry powder which I understand is good for my eyes. It also comes in syrup (the elderberry) which I sometimes add a cap full to the lemonade in my lunchbox. Cheers
Colloidal Silver
Posted by Timh (Ky) on 01/14/2017 2042 posts
Chill the C.S. first, then ozonate and drink for best results. But back to nebulization or humidification like you do. Lately my circulation is going bad as of the chronic infection getting worse. I take a dose of Lipo-C and 500mg Lysine and occasional Hawthorn, BUT I seem to be getting best results nebulizing C.S. This method must deliver directly to the infection which clings to the artery walls. Lungs, nose, throat, arteries, all must benefit from the C.S. vapors.
Cayenne
Posted by Delila (Tel Aviv, Israel) on 10/18/2014
★★★★★
I just came back from a trip and I felt a cold coming on, my whole body was aching and I had a sore throat so I started drinking and gurgling with cayenne pepper, approx. teaspoon in a cup of hot boiling water, a very small amount of black pepper and sipped it throughout the day, and every now and then gurgled the drink and spat out. Make sure to drink plenty of liquids, otherwise the hotness of the chile might cause stomach problems and you will be running to the toilet. I am sure that the hot chili helped kill all the germs and viruses, and didn't give a chance for the cold to settle in. By the following day, I felt much better and the cold had completely gone away, although you have to continue this regime for an extra day until completely well. You should take hot chili as soon as you feel a cold coming on and try to catch it while it is on track before it develops into a heavy cold.
